Wardrobe case



July 29, 19 H. E. MALI ETAL WARDROBE CASE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 14, 1950 q fizz/mfozy' Hm? Z 7770/2' Mil/25222 6, Refer y 9 H. E. MALI EI'AL 2,604,960

WARDROBE CASE Filed June 14, 1950 3 Sheets-sh t g July-29, 1952 H. E. MALI EI'AL WARDROBE CASE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 14, 1950 271 2742222 3? 52M" flaw W g obscure vision and leaves :gers in the rear seat withoutundue crowding.

have been. devised Forolve'rnight stops'the' case often need. not be movedjrom its usual position. inthe automobile. Any garmentmay easily be. drawn out orlowered Patented'July '29, 1952 UNITEhZ- 2,604,960 V i I I I I WARDROBE CASE? 7 William S. Reier, Zenda, Wis.

ApplicationJune 14, 1950, Serial No. 168,004

"This inventionv relates to wardrobe L cases and has. to do more particularly with a novelwardrobeca'se' such as is disclosed but not claimed'in our Eatent No. 2,500,641,

granted Marchl i, 1950.

':Many attempts have been made to solveithe problem of packing suit's'j for' traveling without or creased. The. ward.-

getting them wrinkled 7 robe trunk does a fairly goodjob if itk is not packed particularlyconcerned with automobilev traveling,

f :which the wardrobe'trunkis'unsuitable' belause ofjitssize and Weight. Even with other .m holds, of travel thewardrobetrunk is. often far; from satisfactory. because it requires special handling and usually must either besent. early or. Will-"arrive late. Various st'yles' of. suitcases havingjfacilities for hanging coats and'then folding them have been manufactured; but it is rare 1 'betweenl'the fr'ont and rear seats" and which is just" of the heighti'and width required for' prop- 'erly hanging a suit therein Without folding the coat. j A box of'this size does not objectionably room for' two passen- Such a case couldbe' madeofregular suitcase construction, but according to the present invention itis preferably made mainly of corrugated cardboard. In spiteiof this construction it has sufiicient strength because it opens'only at the top and because wooden support bars. for the .hanger's'f stiflen the sides of the box; The" various garments are made independently removable, i'nspite of the'fact that the box is open only at theto'p', by supporting the hangers at the sides instead of supporting them from a pole or bar extending from front to rear, or transversely of the planes inwhichlthe suits lie; Special hangers for this purpose.

intdthecase throlughthe top.

The casel'i's preferably providedlwith handles on opposite sides thereof'but so near the top that if the case is. carried by one handleit will hang down'in a position not very far oifsetfrom the vertical. With an. inexpensive corrugated board case, the handles may be formed merely by 4 Claims. (01; 130519) p jtiojo .full," The present. invention, 'howevenj'is purpose. of a patent to cover each,v new invntiye concept therein no matter how,

as the handles. Such mayfbe easily sealed is a desire to usesuch age of garments? cutting tongues inthe, sides of the box list below the ooden bja'rs so. that the, barsfwill serve a construction isonefwhich up in theievent thatflthe ife a case for" mothprooristo rg "Additi'onal objects and Iajdvantages' offlthej in; vention. will be apparent. fromi'the following description "and. from the drawings? which: "Figure 1 is a'pe r pective view, notdrawnto .scale,illustrating the; positioning o'fthe case within an automobile."

" Fig. 2 is a fragmentary 'vertical sectional view takenapproznmately onthe line Zi-lfqf 1", the garment hanger being removedfor clarity? 3 1m verticaljsectijonal view taken proximately on. the line 3- -3 off h'ig. i'showingfa shirt. tree'r with shirts on one side'thereofi I ,j a Fig.5 is a view of'the case shortlyj'b'efore "completion.,

Fig. 5,.is'a view showingithe preferredform oi suit hanger. a V r Fig. dis a fragmentary.'vievsgsh'owing a mom:-

fied, construction ofshirtf tree such. as might be used mamiy for hangingin closets."

Fig.; '7 .is a somewhat reduced elevational' iew a of; another modified form bodyingour invention, 7

Although the law requires a full and exact deof' garment hanger em- .scription of' at least one form of the invention,

such asthat which follows, it is, of courseggthe it may later be disguised-by variations inform or additions of further improvementsg andthe appended claims are intended toaccomplish. this purposeby par;- ticularly pointing outthe parts, improvements,

or combinations-inwhichthe inventive. concepts are found. I The form of the invention chosen for. illustration includes a case II which is preferably. of folding box' construction. The. preferred .material is corrugated'cardboard havinga-finish sheet on both sides. of the corrugated sheet. Preferably the-front I2, theiback' l-3" (Fig; 4),.the-sides l4, and the bottom fiaps'lfi are all'formed by the same piece of corrugated boarding. The top or cover I! may be formed as a tongue: on the back I3 but present indications ar'e thati'toiavoid wastage of materialit will be cutfroma separate piece and hinged to the ba'ckl3 by clothtap'e l8. As seenin Fig; 2, it is preferred that there be two cloth hinge'tapes l8, one on theinside' and one on the outside. This will give consider.

in the middle to open wide without striking the top of the car.

A pair of wooden support bars 26 is provided.

One of these is secured firmly to eachside 14 near the top thereof by screws 21 which bear on washers 28 through which they pass. The support bars 26 are provided with a plurality of downwardly extending holes 29 which may be drilled into the bars 26. The holes 29 are adapted toreceive downwardly extending pins 3! formed at. the ends of the various hangers. fl 'I he suit hanger is pr ferably of the form shown n Fig. 5. A main bar or'wire 32 ispreferably straight across its top and provided withdownwardly turned ends to form pins, 31. A second wire is bent to form thegarment-supporting loop vv33- with its ends 34 atthefcenter extendingupwardly and butt-Welded to the bottom of wire 32. A third wire wire 32 "and at its-center to the lower portions of vertical ends 34 of the loop .33. The 10013 33 .of course includes shoulder ,.portions .3! and a horizontal wire 38,

"'It will-be'observedthat the portion of the constructiori-.compris1ng wires 32, and 38 and the intermediate portions of' wires34 forms, a beam construction'which is quite rigid in the vertical direction and therefore adequately supports the garment from the support bars 26. The holes 29 in the support bars are preferably substantially larger in diameter than the pins 3! for ease of insertion of the pins therein. The holes 29 may be flared .outwardlyat their tops.

7 Another form of hanger, designed especially ,for. shirts as they are folded by laundries, is

shown in Fig. 3. In this instance there isprovided a vertical wire or bar 4| which is welded to wires 42 and 43 to form a; beam,'the ends of wire 43 being downwardly turned to form pins 3!. iBreferably, the pins 3Lare connected to the wire l43'b'y'a' gooseneck curve 44. The purpose of this 'isto lower thebody. of wire 43 far enough below cover I] to leave room fordraping garments over the bar 43. Theremightalso be a hanger comprising only awire would; serve for supporting very light articles such as neckties. j Although such light articles might not need the space provided by the gooseneck 44, this gooseneck would also serve to prevent such articles from sliding off the hanger too easily as the hanger is lifted from the case.

f The vertical wire M has welded to it three horizontal wires 46. Of course the number may be varied. Each end of the wires 46 is turned upwardly as seen at 41 to prevent a shirt hanging on the wire 46 from falling off too easily. vOn each of' the six arms formed by the three wires 46 a shirt 48 may be hung. It appears to be the universal practice in laundries to fold shirts to the dimensions of approximately 8 x 16 inches. Accordingly, the lengths of the flat parts of the arms are made exactly 8 inches or slightly greater than "8 inches. These arms may be inserted through the bottom fold of the shirt and the shirt 36 is welded at its ends to'main shaped like the wire 43. This hung on the arm with the top of the shirt downwardly, so that the bottom fold of the shirt rests on the arm.

The spacing of the arms one above another is preferably such that the collar of one shirt will be almost entirely above the collar of the next lower shirt, as seen in Fig. 3. As shirts are folded, the collars usually occupy about 5 inches length- Wise of the=shirts, andghence the wires 46 are preferably spaced about 5 inches apart". .It is very desirable that the wires 46 be at least 4 inches apart, 4 /2 inches being still safer, so as to prevent any overlap between the portions of the collars which are easily crushed. A little overlap of one collar with the tip of the other collar is not objectionablebecause the tip portion can lie fiat on the shirt anyway, and hence does not, need much room to avoid being crushed.

The shirt hanger can be provided with a hook 5i connected as by a twisted wire 52 and a pair of loops 53 with the upper wire 43. When the rack is taken out'of the case the hook 5| may be usedto hang the rack frorna clothes poleor other conventional support.

form of shirt rack has proved to be highly desirable even when thecase I l is not being. used.

Accordingly, a modification .ofthe shirt rack has been develop'ecllforv use solely-with conventional 'Such shirt racks'are provided with hooks 54 which are rigidly hanger'supports. such as clothes rods.

mountedin; the natural position of use. ,Qne form of construction is'shownin Figi 6. Here a vertical aluminumirod 56 isbe'nt to form the hook, 54. Aluminum'lar'ms 51 .aresecured to theflvertical rod. 56 b'y'beingthread'ed into collars 5,2- which may he slipped onto the rod 56 with .a ,drive fit, so thatthey will stayfin place. Of course they couldbe welded in' placeif preferred. Preferably there .are six arms 51, the end of each arm being turned partially upwardly as seen in Fig. 3 where thearms are formed by wires 46. .In other words, the shirt hanger of which a fragment is illustrated in Fig. 6 may be deemed to be substantiallyidenticahwith the shirt hangerof Fig. 3 except. for the structure for supporting, the

with or without the hook 51, is preferred for use in conjunction with case It inasmuch as such usewill ordinarily be temporary and economy is at present preferred. The aluminum rod type of Fig. 6 is at present (preferred for more permanent shirt racks designed for regular use in closets. Of course the terms wire and rod may be used interchangeably, the wires 46 and the rods 51 both being'wire rods. 7 1

Although- .various sizes of material may be used, the hanger shown in Fig. 3 is preferably madeof eight-gauge wire except for the tension wire 42 which may be somewhat lighter. The aluminum wires usedin the structure shown in Fig. dare preferably substantially larger in diameter so as to be not only strong enough to support the shirts reliably, but also to have the appearance desired for a hanger of its character.

The case H ispreferably provided with handholes 6 I, each of whichmay be formed by cutting a tongue 62 in a side I4 of the case. The handholes 6| are preferably positioned just below the support bars 26 as seenbest inFig. 2. Thus if a hand ,is inserted through the handhole 6|, the fingers,. will naturally pass under the support bar 26 sothat the support bar 26 becomes a handle for'the case. Y I

The cases of this invention will usually be sold easily be secured in place lfactory and other garments when traveling by automobile.

been folded alon'gthe line between the middle. panel M and thefront '|I2.'-In this even t, the

righthand panel panel l3 by tape of'sale, it will 'erely be necessary to wet'this tape 64 and press it to the'panel l4. Likewisea tape 66 is carried by one of the longer bottom-flaps It maybe secured .to' the rear 64. If not secured at the time "l6. After the shorter flaps I6 have been turned inwardly to a perpendicular position, thebottom fiaps'lowill be folded to this-position and-secured together by thetape 56. "The tape -66-ispreferably long enough to extendupwardly a little way'along the sides of thecase "to which it is secured. The tape-66 need merely be wet and pressed against the surface to which it is to adhere. Both the tapes 64 and fis are preferably of the type commonly known as gummed cloth tapes.

' 'Ihe-sidepanels M are preferably already p'rovlded wit'h holes 67 for the reception of screws 21 and the support bars 26 preferably also have holes started for these screws. Hence thebars 26 may with the three screws, which will be furnished, and a screw driver.

The front panel 12 will preferably be provided with small slots 68 through whichthe prongs of the fastener 23 may be inserted and bent around a washer'or disk which will be placed on the inside of the case. The fastener 23 may be of any conventional type, such as the type having an end portion elongated in one direction and which may be turned to lie transversely of an elongated hole 69 through the end flap 22 of the cover IT. The elongated hole 69 may be conventionally reenforced with a metal collar having lugs extending through the cardboard and bent around a correspondingly shaped washer on the inside thereof. This will usually be'applied before initial sale inasmuch" as it does not take up much room.

From the foregoing it is seen that a very satiscase has been provided for carrying suits It can be made at very low cost and will 'never-- theless ordinarily give very good servicel. It is of just the size required'for carrying suits without any danger that they will become wrinkled or creased. A shirt" rack is-also provided which facilitates the carrying of shirts with equal safety in the case, or supporting the shirts in a closet or the like.

Other materials may be used for any of the parts of the invention. The case could be of leather or fabric Or plastic. The hangers could be of plastic or plywood, or shaped from sheet metal.

Many other modifications are also possible. For example, the downturned ends 3! could be omitted and the bars 26 provided with notches or other recesses to receive the outstanding ends of the beams forming the upper parts of the hangers. In Fig. 6, the hook could be displaced angularly from the plane of the arms so that it could hang on the front l2 of the case i 4 if such use of this construction of the shirt tree should be desired. The raw edges of the walls [2 and I4 and of cover I! are preferably finished off or bound with gummed tape for durability and appearance.

Modifications of the shirt hangers may be used for hanging a plurality of unfolded shirts in closets. When shirts are laundered at home they are quite often hung on coat hangers instead of being folded. A substantial supply of shirts on an equal number of hangers takes up substantial room :in a closet and this is often objectionable.

'Byhaving the arms 4610f Fig. 3 orithearms 5141f Fig. 6 sloped downwardly at therconventional angle of the shouldersrof c'oathangers wee-3:1 in s Fig. 5f) ,three unfolded shirts may be hung on one "hanger;

pair of; oppositely extending Of course each shirt is thus hung-on a arms- 'The' tips of the arms should be bent' downwardly rather than upwardly.- A dual purpose hanger maybe made, for those who prefer such a hanger, as illustrated in :Fig. 7 of the drawings. To this end we provide-avertical rod 10 having integral andsimilarly shaped hooks H 'and'IZ at the opposite endsthereo'fi Cross wiresor members 73 are mounted on the rod T0 in the same manner as the cross wires '46} (Fig. 3) or 57 (Fig. 6), thereby providing a plurality of arms 14. The arms I4 each have axslope about half as steep as that conventional for the shoulders of coat hangers. When-thehanger ishung with one end (hook H) of the rod!!! uppermost, the arms 13 slope downwardly from the .rod and their tips 15 are turned downwardly" so that the two-aligned arms (on the opposite sides of the rod together form one hanger for an unfolded shirt. :With the other end (hook 12) oftl-ie hanger uppermost the arms'slope slightly upwardly from the vertical rod 10 and the tips 75 are turnedupwardly. A folded shirt such as the shirt la (Fig. 3) may then be hung from each arm Min-the same manner as indicated in Fig. 3. Although this would tend to make the folded shirts hang outwardly away from the vertical bar or rod 'lfl, this is not objectionable in'a closet. It would have the advantage that if a single folded shirt ishung from one of the arms 13 the unbalancedelfe'ct would not tilt the arm downwardly much, if any, below the horizontal. With the hanger of Fig; 6 a singleshirt' tilts the arm 5'! downwardly-but from experienceit is known that it will not slide off because it is restrained from'doing so by the upturned tip or restraining elementof' the arm. For the purpose of hanging folded'shirts, the

degree of sloping shown forthe' shoulders '31 shown in Fig. Tare at present preferredpexcept in shirt racks designed solely for unfoldedlshirts.

Although dimensions of the case-may be varied to suit the convenience of varying situations, it may be helpful to give those which have been found to be satisfactory and which are at present greatly preferred over any wide departures therefrom. accommodate most suit coats without any folding along the bottom. A width of 20 inches has been found to be sufiicient to receive the width of almostall coats without undue crowding at the sleeves. A third dimension of about .12 or 12 inches has been found suflicient to meet the needs of most; travelers. Although ten holes 29 for receiving hangers have been shown in Fig. 2, eight such holes spaced slightly wider apart is probably more than enough. Dimensions much larger than those given would have little advantage and therefore would be objectionable. 1 Greater height would cause more obstruction of the view, and making either of the other dimensions much larger would be likely to keep the case from fitting in the space shown between the two seats and between the door and ',A height of 34.- inches has been found to the shafthousing projecting upwardly from most rear floors. The dimensions of the drawings may not be proportional to the dimensions given inasmuch as the box is illustrative. The dimensions of the'hangers arehowever substantially a back wall, and a bottom closure, all set up from hinged panels of corrugated cardboard construction, said case being accessible only through a top opening for the insertion of garments, a

pair of support bars secured one to each side wall of the case, said side walls having finger-receiving openings close below said support bars, whereby said support bars serve as handles, said support bars having a plurality of bores extending downwardly from the top hangers each having wardly extending pins insertible into a selected pair of said bores, and a cover hinged to the back wall, said cover being foldable over said top opening and having a flap foldable against the front wall, said cover being transversely creased thereof, garment-carrying along a line intermediate the back and front walls, so that the case can be opened by doubling back and raising the cover.

2. A case for carrying garments in automobiles comprising four side walls, bottom, and cover, all set up from hinged panels of corrugated cardboard, said cover being openable for the insertion of garments at the top of the case, a pair of support bars secured one to the inner side of each of opposite side walls adjacent the top thereof, hangers extending between and sup ported at their ends by said support bars respectively, and finger-receiving openings immediately below said support bars with the upper edges of the openings substantially coincident with the .lower edges of the support bars whereby said support bars serve as handles.

3. A case for carrying garments inautomobiles, said case comprising two side walls, a front wall, a back Wall, and a bottom closure, all set up from hinged panels of corrugated cardboard construction, said case being accessible only through a top opening for the insertion of garments, a pair its ends formed as down against the front of support bars secured one to each side wall of the case, said side walls having finger-receiving openings close below said support bars, whereby said support bars serve as handles, said support bars having a plurality of bores extending downwardly from the top thereof, garment-carrying hangers each having its ends iormed as downwardly extending pins insertible into a selected pair of said bores, and a cover hinged to the back wall, said cover being foldable over said top opening and having a flap foldable against the front wall.

.a top opening for the insertion of garments, a

pair of support bars secured-one to each side wall of the case, said side walls having fingerreceiving openings close below said support bars, whereby said support bars serve as handles, a garment-carrying hanger for insertion into the case from the top into position wherein their ends are supported by said support bars, means on said support bars cooperable with the ends of said hanger operative for retaining the hanger in a predetermined position, and a cover hinged to the back wall, said cover being foldable over said top opening and having a flap foldable wall, said cover being transversely creased along a line intermediate the back and front walls, so that the case can be opened by doubling back and raising the cover.

HARRY E. MALI. 7 WILLIAM S. REIER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,502,999 Miller July 29, 1924 1,879,102 Collins r Sept. 2'7, 1932 1,901,895 Cheney Mar. 21, 1933 2,110,556 Scheinman et al. Mar. 8, 1938 2,216,299 Schilling Oct. 1, 1940 2,538,204 Lemon Jan. 16, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 99,420 Switzerland June 1, 1923 

